The year in numbers

I’m not going to bore you with some tale of woe about all the personal life challenges 2025 brought to me and my loved ones. We all face those, year in and year out, and some years are tougher than others, and in the end, it’s all relative. Suffice it to say that I’m a fortunate person and I try to be grateful for all of life’s blessings.

So instead, I will bore you with a listicle about my year in writing.

• 161 submissions to literary journals
• 15 16 pieces accepted for publication, including four six pieces that should appear in the first quarter of 2026.
• 13 published pieces, some of which were accepted in 2024. (Full list here.)
• 101 rejections. I am now a member of the 100-rejection club, which is not a bad thing (see “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year,” by Kim Liao on LitHub).
• 88 blog posts, including 32 Friday Five interviews with some fabulous writers, litmag editors, and podcasters.
• 212 submissions read as a first reader for a top-tier flash fiction litmag. I wrote about this rewarding experience in October.
• 1 piece nominated for inclusion in a flash fiction anthology. I’m grateful to the editors of Painted Pebble Lit Mag for nominating “Spindled” for this honor.

All things considered, it’s been a good year from a writing and publishing standpoint, and I’m happy with the way things have ended. A few of my favorite stories have still not found a home, but I’m hopeful they will in 2026. And I’m hopeful I’ll write even more and better stuff in the year ahead.

Happy Holidays and New Year to all, and thank you for reading!

Photo via Pexels.